Last week, when the 85th Annual Academy Awards nominations were announced, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln lead the pack with 12 nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Today, DreamWorks Pictures has debuted the extended behind-the-scenes TV special Lincoln: An American Journey, a 20-minute video that gives fans unprecedented access to the set. Take a look at how Steven Spielberg and his cast and crew crafted this critically-acclaimed drama.

DreamWorks Pictures announced today that a behind-the-scenes special, Lincoln: An American Journey, an exploration of the making of their highly commended film Lincoln, debuts online today, Wednesday, January 16, on Apple iTunes at 12:00 p.m. (PST). The special will also be aired on television on Sunday, January 20, on KCBS at 9:00 a.m. (PST).

Lincoln: An American Journey is an inside look at the making of DreamWorks Pictures' Lincoln, the film that has become a nationwide phenomenon, grossing over $150 million to date since its opening on November 9. Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, has received more awards nominations than any other film this year, including 12 Academy Award nominations.

The special marks the first time audiences will be able to go behind the scenes with Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field to experience how everyone came together over a 12-year journey to bring Lincoln to the big screen.

Here's what he American Film Institute writes of the critically acclaimed film.

"Lincoln belongs to the ages. Steven Spielberg's landmark motion picture enriches the American canon-freeing the Great Emancipator from his tintype image and exploring the wit and wisdom that made the man. Daniel Day-Lewis is instantly iconic, demonstrating an immersion into character that is as honest as it is immediate. Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones and an extraordinary acting ensemble breathe humanity into history, while Tony Kushner's brilliant screenplay illustrates the power of words to dazzle above the most special of effects. Film legends D.W. Griffith and John Ford each depicted their versions of America's sixteenth president, and Spielberg's now stands beside them with this telling for our time-and for all time."

Lincoln is a revealing drama that focuses on the 16th President's tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook and Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln is directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, with a screenplay by Tony Kushner, based in part on the book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Doris Kearns Goodwin.